I was contacted by a rep. from Venio stating that there was $21,000 in stocks belonging to my deceased parents which they could recover for me for a fee of 1/3. anybody have any experience with them?
Permalink Reply by Tom on March 16, 2010 at 6:27am
I received a letter recently with basic info about an asset of my grandfather's, who passed away 25 years ago. My mother (his daughter) passed away 10 years ago. The info listed was their names with our address 25 years ago, in Texas. Doing a simple search of records on Texas' unclaimed assets site, I found that there is a bank account in his name for $345 BUT, my brother said that a person he spoke with on the phone at Venio said that there is an account 'out there' worth $25,000 I will speak with them soon, but I am very wary.
I used 1099s that came in the mail to find stocks that had not previously been gathered in. When I called Venio and told them the 3 companies, they told me that one of them was the one that they called me about.
I too was contacted and they said that my aunt who died 3 years back has left some stock to my mother but would have to pay them 1/3 of the estimated value $10k to get these funds. This sounds like pure extortion. Do you know of some way to get my hands on these alleged funds without them getting any money?
Permalink Reply by Tom on April 12, 2010 at 7:11pm
right, I found $345 from going to Texas' unclaimed assets website, but Venio claims that the approximately $25,000 is from a CD from my grandfather that is NOT unclaimed yet (and I"m not positive which state it's located). Not sure how they found it, but if I can find it, then I can save ALOT of money. The rep already offered to lower their 'take' from 33% to 25%. Try to negotiate with the company that found the money if you have to use them. I'm going to keep trying to find the lost asset for a while though....
VENIO HAS ARRANGEMENTS WITH TRANSFER AGENTS WHO MANAGE RECORDS FOR REGISTERED STOCK HOLDERS. THE TA'S ARE SUPPOSED TO BE FIDUCIARLIY RESPONSIBLE.
THERE ARE OTHER FIRMS AS VENIO THAT CHARGE 1/10 OR LESS THAN THEY DO.
SEARCH THE MAJOR TRANSFER AGENTS , THEY CAN HELP U FIGURE WHAT THE STOCK IS.
IN ADDITION THE SEC SHOULD BE MADE AWARE OF THIS AS THE FEES YOU MENTION ARE EXTREMELY HIGH................
IF YOU ARE FAMILIAR WITH THE STOCK NAME YOU CAN CONTACT THAT COMPANY AND THEY HELP YOU RECOVER THE ASSET FOR FREE, AS SHOULD THE TRANSFER AGENT. SO THERE ARE WAYS AROUND PAYING THE HIGH FEES......................................
THE STOCK YOU ARE BEING CONTACTED ABOUT IS NOT YET AT THE STATE , BUT COULD BE LATER ON.....YOU CAN WAIT AS MOST STATES WAITING PERIOD IS 3 YEARS...........THEN YOU CAN GO TO THE STATES UNCLAIMED PROPERTY AND SEARCH FOR YOUR RELATIVES NAME OR YOUR NAME. AT THAT POINT YOU CAN GO TO WWW.MISSINGMONEY.COM......
WAITING WILL PROBABLY SAVE YOU ALOT OF MONEY IF THE COMPANY OR TRANSFER AGENT CAN'T HELP
As long as u know the name of the decendent that you are the heir of, u can contact the major transfer agents bny/mellon, computershare, Registra +Transfer, American Stock Transfer, Continental Tranfer Agency. They hold the registration records for the corporations. You can explain the situation and they should be able to locate the decedents name, which in turn gives the corporation's name. You can then at no or little cost transfer the asset to your name or the rightful heirs name.
Jack! you're a lifesaver! I finally located the stock, only because VENIO said that it has been processed out of their system. I played the waiting game with them for 2 years.
NOW however, Venio no longer has the stock, so it sounds like it's moved on to the State Controller's office. I have yet to see it up there on the site. Any idea how long this transfer takes?
Are these transfer agents only for stocks? The Venio rep indicated to me that the money they found for my deceased mother was in liquid assets. Any help is appreciated.
We were contacted as well, by Venio, saying that there was 3500.00 , now that they have the paper work they say the amount is now 1500.00 not a lot of money but it makes us suspicious . I would say for 2100.00 dollars contact an attorney for advice. Did they ask for a copy of your parents trust?